I'm back from San Diego area and have some ideas, too many ideas. And for me, ideas can be dangerous . Our first stop was in the Windy City. We ate breakfast at Webber's restaurant and were dissapointed. The breakfast menu consisted of a buffet with the standard menu fare of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, etc. For a company famed for it's grills, I would have expected something better.

Lunch was had at Uno's Pizza, the place where the Chicago deep-dish pizza was created. The crust was very yeasty, and shaped much like a dish with 1/2 inch sides rising about a 1/4 inch above the inner crust base. The cheese was placed on the inside circle and then topped with the sauce and other ingredients. Though I believe the product idea was incredibly good, the flavors were not to my taste, though they were not bad and the fillings were generous. I will learn to duplicate that crust and fill with sauce and ingredients more to my liking.

I wish I were more brave and willing to leave my comfort zone. I can envision a dozen sauces and filling combinations that would create amazing pizzas using the basic Uno's format and pizza building technique. I think a franchize specializing in their technique would do amazingly well.

For San Diego, the food was special only because of the greater variety and location. I went there to visit my MOL, not to do a lot of playing. I left that to my daughter and her boyfreind. I did most of the cooking as my SOL's and BOL's idea of creative cooking usually involved noodles, a can of mushroom or chicken soup, some frozen veggies, and crushed potato chips, all placed in a caserole dish. So I fired up the grill and cooked pork chops, marinated in orange juice, skinless, chicken, breaded pork medallions baked, sweet potatoes, cole slaw (the juicy kind), and a host of home-cokked meals that were out of the ordinary for that home. It was my mission to serve my MOL some quality food, and help with chores. I went to make her life a bit easier and more enjoyable. We got along great and had a wonderful time.

I did take a day out and spent it frivolously at Boomer's, in El Cajon, a place featuring a go-kart track, bumper boats with water cannons that shot about ten feet, batting cages, and a bunch of games, including air-hockey. Air hockey was a favorite game of my youth. It was the rare person who could beat me at that game as I played it a lot. I met two people who could challenge me, one of which was evenly matched, and the other who dominated me like I was a rank beginner to the game. Fortunately, I only saw him once. I was severely humbled that night.

I got to school both my daughter and her boyfreind, as well as my nephew on the go-kart track. I even lapped everyone in one of our races. And we absolutely drowned the boyfreind while playing on the bumper boats.

The San Diego Zoo Wild Animal park wa great but is as all parks of that type are, a place where you are entertained. I like to create my own entertainment, whether at the beach, in the woods, or in my own home. I'm not crazy about letting some organization, or even Hollywood (I should say - especially Holywood) entertain me. My DW is just the opposite. She like to be entertained rather than making her own. We are very different in that respect.

All in all, it wa a great trip, especially when you figure four adults driving non-stop from SSM MI, to San Diego non-stop in a Dodge Avenger. It was cramped and took about 30 hours to get from here to there and there to here. There were few fights or arguments and we only got lost twice, once in the Michigan's lower peninsula where I missed a poorly marked turn-off, and once in Chicago. The Chicago one took us several hours to straighten out.

I missed all of you terribly and tried to log on from my SOL's computer. I just couldn't remember my password. Attempts at getting it just weren't working. I finally got everything figured out last night. I did get my BOL to register, though I see that he hasn't checked in since his original question in the Cooking Tools section. I'll have to give him a call and let him know that his answer is awaiting him.

Unfortuanately, my lunch hour is nearly gone so I'm going to quickly look at the postings and get back to the day-job.

I went to Uno's in Chicago, but was disappointed with my pizza. It was not as good as the Uno's in my hometown. I am sure I just got a bad one. I bet if I went there again it would be great. One thing I loved about the one in Chicago though was they took your order as soon as you arrive so that by the time you are seated your pizza is ready. Brilliant idea if you ask me